Second Chances
by D12Chole
Summary: Katniss returns home, to twelve three years after abandoning Peeta and fleeing into the woods with her and Gales family. Now she wants Peeta, she loves Peeta but Peeta isn't sure anymore after everything he's been through and the hard fight of Katniss showing Peeta what he means to her begins. Everlark, No KE/GH. (story is better than the summary).


**Disclaimer, I own nothing.**

**Prologue- there are no fairy tales. **

**Haymitch's POV. **

**3 years after the 74th hunger games.**

Walking the corridors at night, I never sleep not without at least a mind and belly full of drink but forced sobriety installed by districts thirteen force me to deal with the horrors of my life. The painful memories of my past, of the past of the boy, the man I've fought alongside. Stopping at the old table, half burnt and collapsed on one side rooting around underneath coming up empty-handed.

"Never thought I'd see the day when the capitol ran out of booze." lamenting to myself before a voice speaks up from out on the balcony.

"It didn't, I just stole the last bottle." hearing the voice, sucking air in deeply as I turn to see him laying of a beach seat, sipping slowly from the bottle looking over what remained of the marble city. The smoke still glowing red with the embers of the fires, three weeks after the official end of the war. Sitting next to him, getting the bottle held out to me I take a sip, the liquid burning its usual path down the back of my throat. Nice.

"Holding out on your dear old mentor. Honestly kid, I'd have thought Effie would have taught you enough about manners to-"

"Your one to talk Haymitch Abernathy, manners would be for you to offer me a chair and a glass." Effie's piercing, chirpy capitol voice rings out in my ears, looking over my shoulder to see her walking her way towards us. The glass cracking beneath her slippers, though her look still shocks me from seeing her two days ago. Gone are the bright clothes, the ridiculous wigs, replaced by her image now. Soft white robe hiding her modesty, soft golden, brown locks flowing straight down to her mid back. Not bad, though a rough slap on the shoulder and a glare from the kid brings me back and reluctantly I hand the chair as well as the bottle over to her.

"Not going to find a glass here sweetness, so from the bottle or nothing." more for me, now to find out how- but that line of though is stopped seeing Effie take a rather large gulp straight from the bottle.

"For one night Haymitch, perhaps we can skip manners."

"No complaining from me." the kid speaks up, taking the bottle from Effie and knocking back his own gulp like a seasoned pro though the drinking I know, like me has only started in the last day or so. I just sigh, nodding in defeat and take the last chair to the right of the kid, the three of us making a rather unique family.

We just sit, a strange but comfortable silence taking over as we watch the sky change in colour, the wind the only sound throughout it all. Normally a bustling city never asleep, the capitol today and for some time will remain quiet, peaceful as the wounds of the war, of Snow and Coin are close and healed. As the sun peaks over the mountain tops of the capitol, shinning brightly and illuminating the room, the kid I finally take in his appearance, seeing him truly for the first time since he did it almost a week ago. Blond hair long and over due for a cut, wavy its' unruly self across the top of his, once brightly shinning blue eye's now cast in a grey sullen blue. Old and weary as he holds a new light to himself, one as a warrior of old from the stories before the dark days. That right there is Peeta Mellarks problem, he was born in the wrong era, being perfectly at home should he had been born in the time of myths and legends, having no problem in getting his fairy tale ending but here in the real world, in our time there is no fairy tale ending, nor winners or victors, hero's or legends. Or at least, until Peeta the wasn't but now though I'm truly convinced he is a hero I know he doesn't see himself as one but merely as one of us, a survivor. His badly cut up face, littered with small cuts and grazes but still strong.

"What you thinking about, old man." the kids questions me, snapping me from looking at him as he swigs another gulp, passing it to me.

!life..." taking the bottle, he lets a snort out.

"overrated, the concept." he tells me dryly. "Hows the trial going, death sentence yet or they still working out the finer points of the _phoenix's _death?" spitting his own name out though the kid never liked it.

"Doubt you'll get death, even though you did kill the president of thirteen I've some sources that say even they weren't happy with some of her rules after becoming president... guess even she was as bad as Snow." another snort and back to the silence, watching the city come quietly to life or the remains of life. Still only 630 in the morning when Effie gets up, holding her hand out to me.  
"I think it's time we headed back to bed Haymitch." nodding, I may bust her about her old self but Effie is the most... well for me she makes things livable and I'm happy for a change. Taking her hand I turn to Peeta, the bottle almost empty I don't want to leave him with his demons. I know all to well what that can lead to.

"You going to be alright kid."

"Yeah dad, I think I'll just sleep for a bit. The cold, fresh air always does me good." sifting and resting his head on his bent arm, his eye's close as Effie pulls me back to our room, back to our bed. We shared on for most of the war and I'll never admit to her but the past week, up till two days ago have been hard not having her there to fend off mine and her own demons. You can't go through what we did without doing some questionable things, things that would give even the most honourable man his own set of demons. Our love-making that morning is slow, never loosing eye contact as we familiarise our selves with each others, the curves of our bodies. Well hers. Our likes and dislikes what makes the walls around reality shatter and what brings us stronger together. Finally in late morning, well still early to most we fall asleep wrapped together underneath the covers. Shielded from the world that rest outside the door.

Our rest from the world is sort lived as ten o'clock rolls around and a hammering on the door comes. Effie pushing me out of the bed, groaning as I pulled a robe on and opened the door to see Plutarch standing there, two peacekeepers next to him and four behind him Peeta sitting on the coach rubbing the sleep from his face.

"What are you doing here?" I question him, glaring at him as the bathroom door closes, knowing Effie to have gotten up.

"They are coming to an end of the trail, before that they want to speak with the phoenix-"

"Peeta, my name is Peeta bloody Mellark! how many times do I need to fucking say it!" the boy yells in frustration, though I clearly see the guards shift and clutch the guns tighter but I strongly believe Peeta, should he want would be able to kill them all before they even figured out something was wrong. The same with this room, the boy doesn't have much fight left in him but it wouldn't take much for him to leave. He's been here basically on his own free will, his choice.

"That is your name but to the world you became the phoenix and most people still see you as that. We've done a hell of a job, called forth many people to testify about you but-"  
"But they want to see if I'm truly a nut case?" he finishes for Plutarch how shifts from foot to foot uneasily. "i can answer you that-"

"No kid save it for the court, we'll be ready in 30 minutes or less, wait outside the room... with your thugs." he looks at me, breathing deeply.

"For fucks sake, apart from throwing ourselves from the building there is no way to escape, Now leave!" I yell and quickly they do, Effie having heard most of it, returns to get dressed while I move to speak with Peeta.

"So whats the plan?"  
"Isn't that your job, mentor." I smirk, shaking my head because for once I'm at a loss and the feeling is new to me but Effie's voice comes through to us both.

"tell them the truth, tell them what it means to be you Peeta, to be a victor, to be the phoenix." Peeta regards Effie a minute before stepping up and hugging her like a child would a mother. Effie shocked at first returns the hug and we leave the apartment after another ten minutes. Ready to face the world, hopefully for the last time.

-court room-

uneasily I shift, sitting in the front row and watch as Peeta stands in the centre of the court room, the jury members, judges and president-elect coming into the room and sitting. Shuffling through papers before addressing Peeta.

"Please state your name for the records."

"Peeta Mellark, District Twelve. The phoenix."

"Now phoenix-" he stops them by holding a hand up.

"My name as stated is Peeta Mellark, so please address me as Peeta or Mr Mellark." the president-elect, Paylor regards him carefully before nodding to the clerk who continues.

"Very well, Mr Mellark. This court is in session to asses your actions that lead to the death of Alma Coin, ex-President of District Thirteen."

"You brought me here to asses what kind of threat I am to you president, you may hide it behind the death of Coin which by right should be called murder because that's what I did and would do again. You sit up there in that chair, as she did thinking the same what will it take to control me but as we can tell by Coin's body laying on a cold slab the answer is nothing. We all know what Coin was capable of and we know that sooner or later a second rebellion would have started one that would see no winner." the president leans forward I her chair but says nothing as Peeta continues. "I've been told that people in here have been talking about what kind of person I am, what lead me to my actions but for all of you thinking you know me, or have an in-depth knowledge of me your all wrong because the main people who know what it's like to be me where never called to the stage." taking a step forward towards the president. "You refused to call the other victors to the stage because in the end they're the only ones that have any idea as to what I've done, why and how but I can tell you."  
he breathes deeply, collecting his thoughts before addressing everyone.

"My name is Peeta Mellark of District Twelve, survivor of two Hunger games and Capitol torture. Survivor of Snow and Coin. You all stand there believing to know because you endured the war to what I've been through but you know nothing. You don't know how it feels to know that the girl you love ran off with another man, that because of you, you had to watch your father die in-front of you, watch your family be destroyed and ripped apart piece by piece as the quiet life they had it turned upside down. You know nothing of the guilt I have, that my actions drove Snow to create the Victors game, placing everyone who had survived that hell back into it. To know that the man, who became a second father to me almost die at my hands because my mind was twist and warped into thinking he was some demented mutt, hell-bent on seeing me die in his plans. To be part of a game you had no control over and every action you did resulting in the hurting of others. I have endured so much in my sort life, becoming the phoenix was meant to instil hope in people but from the world I can see it only brought despair because I allow people, that sort only power and control lead me. You'll never know, no matter how many head doctors you get to analyse me what it means, to feel like to be me. I killed Coin because of her plans for the future, to hold a new type of Hunger Game using the capitol children. Why, after everything we've lost, fought for would she want that other than to control out of fear. Yes some people would agree that the deserve to know what it feels like to watch your children run in terror, to die in terror knowing that only a black void waits for them but how long in-till those games spread, using the children from the other Districts, how long till we had a worse version of Snow. Because while Snow was evil in every sense, he knew the difference between senseless killing and what Coin envisioned. The death of everyone." he shakes his head, the whole court room reduced to silence.

"Coin would have been worse but you want to know if I'm a threat to you... no, I'm not and though you can never believe that the most I want is for some sort of life I had before the games. Boring old Peeta Mellark, not the phoenix or the star-crossed victor but the quiet boy who lived in District twelve unknown to the world. That is what I want, so if you can't give me that, then please for the sake of everyone kill me know because all of this." his tells them, motioning to everything around him. "This is the end for me, no more phoenix, just no more..."

a silence pause takes everyone over before we hear it all, form outside the court room in the squares of the capitol, where the session was being broadcast the thunder applause from the crowds as it slowly spread into the room itself. Everyone on their feet, even the jury. As it quiets down and everyone looks to the president-elect, wondering what she'll think there is total silence. You could hear a pin drop. Standing the president looks to Peeta and sighs.

"Your right, it was murder and we will never know truly what it means to be you... or a victor. Never should we have thought we could have because no, unless they experienced it can describe the horrors of the arena and from that I am truly sorry. Coin from the few meetings I had with her could be described as the very embodiment of manipulation, always ready as yourself said to sacrifice anyone, no matter the relation to the problem to get her way and yes it would have led to a second rebellion with no clear winning at the end. Never the less your actions, to kill a president can't go unpunished and it is here by the rule of this court that you be released into the care of Haymitch Abernathy for the period of ten years, continued mental evaluations to be on-going." she sits down and looks at Peeta. "In a world as the one we hope for, no matter the reasons for actions murder is unacceptable but Peeta I want to say this to you. Not as the President elect or a support of the phoenix but as a person. We, as a nation can never thank or repay you the debt we owe, never truly show our thanks for everything you have sacrificed to give us this world but I want to say it... thank you."

he nods, breathing deeply as a few tears roll down his face.

"As far as the exams go, I'm certain phone calls will be sufficient, a hovercraft will be ready by morning tomorrow to take you back to district Twelve, as well as equipment for anyone wanting to move back. We will help with the rebuilding of the new twelve. The victors house where left untouched and made available to those wishing to move back, as well as camp sites set up until proper housing can be allocated. You'll have your wish Peeta, you'll have your peace." he looks like he about to speaks but swallows the words and nods his thanks, the hammer going down and people filing out of the court room. I along with Effie walk up to him, Effie hugging him and me placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Your father would have been proud Peeta." he smile before hugging me and I embrace him as a son because that's what I've come to think of Peeta as. My son.

-back in twelve.-

the hovercraft trip was short, eight were sent back, three with passengers and the rest building materials. More would follow after the building had begun. We landed in the waste, the desolation left by the capitol and slowly we begin to make our way back to the victors village. Entering Peeta's house first to get him settled. He hasn't slept since the morning of the trail, so he thinks it be good to finally get some. Only I never expected to meet the people in his living-room. There standing in front of us, stopping the easy-going conversation Effie had managed to start with Peeta is Katniss Everdeen, her family and the Hawthorne's.

"Peeta.." she whispers, tears forming in her eyes. Out of all the things I expected to happen, the main being the both rush into each others arms I never expected what Peeta did. Rustling around in his bag he pulls a gun, fully loaded and points it at Katniss's head.

"I was waiting to use this until I was alone but now seems the right time as well." closing my eye's and breathing deeply, I listen to the sound of a gunshot ringing throughout the house.

Fairy tale endings never happen.

**A/n; hoped you liked, the next chapter should be up in a couple of days. **

**Any comments would be appreciated.**

**D12Chloe. **


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